The use of various prosthetic implant systems, such as those used for the total replacement of hips, has become increasingly more commonplace. For example, hip replacements are performed to alleviate conditions caused by osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fractures, dislocations, congenital deformities, and other hip-related conditions.
Total hip arthroplasty involves replacing the damaged surfaces of the hip with artificial surfaces. Typically, the surgeon removes the head and neck of the femur and replaces them with a femoral component comprised of a metallic ball and stem. The damaged hip socket is lined with an acetabular component which is typically comprised of a metallic cup lined with a plastic material (such as polyethylene). The ball and stem fit into this cup, creating a new, movable hip joint.
Ceramic acetabular liners began to be used in the early 1970's with a monolithic design that was attached to the acetabulum, either with or without bone cement. In the early 1990's, modular ceramic liners were introduced that were seated into a metal shell via a taper connection. In the mid-1990's, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)-backed ceramic liners were introduced, which were then inserted into a metal shell. These ceramic liners were pressed into the UHMWPE backing. Some of these liners had anti-rotation grooves to enhance the locking strength of the ceramic liner to the UHMWPE backing. Surface texturing was difficult to impart on these ceramic liners as diamond tooling was typically required to grind or machine, and grit blasting methods, which can be used on metal, typically did not work on ceramic materials.
Therefore, there is a need for a composite acetabular component that has increased bonding strength between the ceramic liner and the UHMWPE backing in order to increase survivorship of the composite acetabular component.